Card-index.



A. C. WARREN GARD INDEX.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.1, 1913.

Patented N 0V. 24, 1914.

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ALEXANDER C. WARREN, 0F CHICAGOQILLINOIS.

CARD-INDEX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 24, 1914.

Application filed November 1, 1913. Serial No. 798,718.

T0 all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER C. WAR- REN,citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Card-Indexes; and I do hereby declare the following to be aV full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to card indexes, its prime object being to providean index in which the title or number of every card will be visiblewithout moving thc cards adjacent thereto, and in which both faces ofeach card may be viewed, or may have notations made thereon, Withoutremoving t-he card from the container portion of the index.

Other objects are to provide a simple and cheaply constructed mountingfor the cards which will give consecutive cards the proper spacing foraffording the desired exposure of the portion of the card bearing thetitle .or number, and which will permit the cards to be moved out oftheir overlapping relations without altering the said spacing; also toprovide means for locking the said mounts of the cards in the containerfor the index, and for readily inserting or remov ing the cards from thesaid container.

I accomplish these objectsby the construction shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a fragmentary view of a portion of adrawer housing the card index of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlargedtransverse section through Fig. l along the line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a sideview of a drawer and of the index members housed therein, with thenearer side of the drawer removed. Fig. 4 is an enlarged end view of aportion of one of the cards and of the preferred form v of supporttherefor. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through Fig. 4 along the line 55. Figs. Gand 8 show alternative designs of the supporting members forthe cards. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary horizontal view showing the method ofsecuring the retaining block. in operative position.

ln the embodiment of Fig. l, thev index of my invention consists of adrawer having a base l, a front Q and a plurality of partitions 3extending longitudinally of the drawer and hence parallel with eachother. The said partitions are equipped upon their opposed faces withchannel formations formed by overhanging flanges which may be integralwith the partition as shown at el, or detachably secured to thepartition, as shown by the strip 5 which is secured to the partition 3by spring fasteners 6.' Resting upon the base l of the drawer andextending transversely of the said partitions are supporting members 7consisting of a pair of metal tubes each having overlapped portionsaffording a socket longitudinally of the tube for receiving one edge ofa card l0, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. The edge 8 of the overlappedportion or each metal tube is preferably normally spaced from theunderlapped portion 9 of the tube by a distance less than the thicknessof the card 10, so that when the card is inserted in position, theresiliency of the overlapped portions will cause the same to pressagainst the card to retain the latter in the said longitudinal socket ofthe metal member. The underlapped portion of the metal tube ispreferably equipped at its end with a stop formation l1 against whichthe end of the card l0 may abut to insure the insertion of the card intothe said socket to a uniform distance, and the body of the tubes 7 ispreferably substantially cylindrical with the overlapped formations sodisposed as to hold the card l() substantially tangential of the saidcylinder.

in the embodiment of Fig. 2, each of the metal supporting members 7 issomewhat shorter than-half the distance between the opposed faces of theoverhanging ledges of the partitions, t'. e. of the-webs of thechannel-shaped formations upon the said partitions, so that the saidmembers may be slid toward each other to reduce the distance from theirextreme ends to less than the distance between the said opposed edges ofthe said webs. By thus sliding the members secured to each card towardeach other, the pair of supporting members may readily be moved past thesaid lateral flanges or overhanging ledges, and when the card has thusbeen inserted in the drawer, the members may be laterally separated sothat the ends thereof will be housed in the said channel formations.When a number of cards have been placed in the drawer with thesupporting members 7 contiguous to each other and with the end portionsof the latter housed by the said channel formations, the cardsmayreadily be tilted or rotated upon the said supporting ymembers asshown in Fig. 3 so as to permit access to either face of any card, andin doing so the interlocking of the ends in the said channel formations,will prevent the. supporting members from becoming'displaced.

To insure an even spacing of the cards so as to maintain a uniformexposure of the end of each card projecting beyond the card underlappedthereby, I preferably provide a block forming a ledge 1Q approximatelyequal in height to the diameter of one of the supporting members 7 andapproximately equal in width to one of the cards, inserting the saidblock between the front of the drawer and the most farwardly disposedone of the roller members 7. I also preferably position an adjustablepartition member 13 just back of the most rearwardly disposed rollermember 7, the said member 13 being preferably equipped at one or bothends with springs 1i bearing against portions of the adjacent partitionsand thereby locking the said adjustable partition strip 13 againstaccidental displacement.

Instead of making each roller member 7 of two portions secured to thesame card and slidable to and from each other, each roller member mayconsist of a single member 7 as shown in Fig. 5, in which case I makethe upper web or ledge portion 5 of at least one of the partitionsdetachable to permit the insertion or withdrawal of the memberssupporting the respective cards. `Where a single drawer is equipped witha number of partitions so as to house a plurality oit rows ofindexcards, a single overlianging ledge or strip 5 may serve as a web orretaining member for anchoring the adjacent ends of two rows of thesupporting members, as shown in Fig. 1. Moreover, one of the partitionsmay be made integral with the side of the drawer, as is also shown inFig. 1.

While I have shown and described the supporting member secured to eachcard as consisting of a substantially cylindrical metal tube, I do notwish to be'limited to this construction, nor to other details as hereindisclosed, since the same might be varied in many ways without departingfrom the spirit of my invention. For eX ample, Fig. 6 shows a supportingroller 15 consisting of a cylinder of wood having a central perforationand a longitudinal slot leading thereto, thus permitting a card to beanchored thereto by bending an end portion oit the card into a shallowU-shaped formation and sliding the said end into the said slot andperforation lengthwise of the roller. Likewise, Fig. 3 shows aconstruction in which the roller or supporting member is integral withthe card itself, being made by equipping the card with a widened portionat its upper end, which portion is then rolled into a cylinder. In anycase, it

will be evident from the drawings that this method of mounting the cardswill permit each index card to expose an edge portion substantiallyequal in width to the supporting members, since the abutting of the adjacent supporting members will limit the extent of overlap of theoverlapping of the cards carried by the said members. It will also beevident from Fig. 3 that each card may easily be manipulated so as toexpose either surface thereof and to permit the making of notations uponeither side of the card without removing either the card or the holderattached thereto from the drawer or container housing the same.

I claim as my invention:-

1. In a card index system, a support for each card comprising asubstantially cylindrical member equipped with means for securing anedge portion of a card thereto, the said securing means so disposed asto hold the card substantially tangentially of the said cylindricalmember.

2. A card index system comprising a plu-I rality of cards, a drawerequipped with a pair of parallel partitions separated by a distanceapproximately equal to the length of one of the said cards, the saidpartitions equipped with opposed overhanging `flanges, and a pluralityof supporting members resting upon the bottom of the drawer andextending transversely thereof, the respective ends of the saidsupporting members being.

overhung by the said flanges, each of the said cards being secured toone of the said supporting members along an edge transverse of the saidpartitions. at least one of the said iianges being detachable to permitthe insertion or removal of the said supporting members.

3. A. card index system comprising a drawer equipped with a pair ofparallel partitions longitudinal thereof, a plurality of cardssubstantially equal in length to the spacing between the saidpartitions; a block adjacent to the :forward end of the drawer andapproximately equal in width to the width of one of the cards, anadjustable partition member interposed between the said longitudinalpartitions and extending transversely of the latter; and a plurality ofcontiguously disposedd supporting members resting upon the bottom oi thedrawer transversely thereof and interposed between the said block andthe said transverse'member, each of the said supporting members beingsubstantially equal in length to the said spacing between the saidpartitions and each thereof secured to an edge portion of one of thesaid cards.

4. A card index system comprising a drawer equipped with a pair ofparallel partitions longitudinal thereof, the said partitions equippedwith opposed overhanging flanges; a plurality of cards substantiallyequal in length to the spacing between the said partitions; a blockadjacent to the or- Ward end of the drawer and approximately equal inwidth to the width of one of the cards, an adjustable partition memberinterposed between the said longitudinal partitions and extendingtransversely .of the latter; and a plurality of contiguously disposedsupporting members resting upon the bottom of the drawer transverselythereof and interposed between the said block and the said transversemember, the ends of each of the said supporting members housedrespectively by the said over-hanging flanges; and each thereof securedto an edge portion of one of the said cards.

5. In a card index system, a plurality of cards; a plurality of rollers,eaoh thereof secured substantially tangentially thereof to an edgeportion of one of the said cards and having its end portions projectingbeyond the card to which it is secured; and a support for the saidrollers equipped With means for housing the said end portions thereof.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my name in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER C. WARREN. 'Vitnesses:

AMY A GBITZBAUGH, ALBERT SCHEIBLE.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

